18 regions · 200 marks
Regions
Great Britain's coast in 18 regions, from Cardigan Bay round to the Solway. Each region page has its rules and minimum sizes from the regulator, its headline fish, its shore marks, local tips and a safety note.
England
Bristol Channel
Severn estuary, Somerset and North Devon
The Bristol Channel has the second biggest tidal range in the world, so the water is coloured and the tide runs hard.
12 marks · Devon and Severn IFCA · researched
Celtic Sea and English Channel
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Two very different coasts.
12 marks · Cornwall IFCA · researched
English Channel
South Devon
A coast of deep estuaries, shingle bays and red cliffs from Plymouth Sound to Seaton.
12 marks · Devon and Severn IFCA · researched
English Channel
Dorset, Hampshire and the Solent
Chesil Beach, Portland and the Purbeck coast give deep water, bream and winter codling.
12 marks · Southern IFCA · researched
English Channel
Sussex
Long shingle and sand beaches, a few piers and chalk at Seaford.
12 marks · Sussex IFCA · researched
Strait of Dover, Thames Estuary and southern North Sea
Kent, the Thames and Essex
Dungeness and the Kent shingle are famous for winter cod, whiting and dabs.
11 marks · Kent and Essex IFCA · researched
North Sea
Suffolk, Norfolk and the Wash
A long, low coast of shingle banks, sandy beaches and soft cliffs, with Victorian piers and the vast tidal flats of the Wash.
12 marks · Eastern IFCA · researched
North Sea
Lincolnshire and the Humber
The Humber is a big, muddy estuary with long concrete walls where cod and whiting run in winter.
10 marks · North Eastern IFCA (Humber, Holderness) and Eastern IFCA (Lincolnshire) · researched
North Sea
Yorkshire coast to the Tyne
Bridlington, Filey Brigg, Flamborough, Scarborough and Whitby, then the piers and rock edges from the Tees to the Tyne.
13 marks · North Eastern IFCA
North Sea
Northumberland
From Blyth and the Wansbeck up past Druridge Bay, Creswell and Amble to Low Newton and Dunstanburgh.
8 marks · Northumberland IFCA
Irish Sea
North West England
From the Mersey and the Wirral up the Fylde coast, round Morecambe Bay and on to Cumbria and the Solway.
14 marks · North Western IFCA
Wales
Irish Sea
Cardigan Bay and the Llyn
A long, gentle bay of surf beaches, shingle and low reefs, with the rugged Llyn peninsula at its northern end.
12 marks · Welsh Government · researched
Celtic Sea and Bristol Channel
Pembrokeshire, Gower and South Wales
Clear water, deep rock marks and surf beaches in Pembrokeshire, the sheltered Milford Haven, the limestone coves of the Gower, then the big tides of the Bristol Channel from Swansea to Cardiff.
12 marks · Welsh Government · researched
Irish Sea
North Wales coast
Great Orme, Llandudno, the Menai Strait, Anglesey and the Dee shore at Mostyn.
5 marks · Welsh Government
Scotland
North Sea
Scottish Borders to Aberdeen
Rocky Berwickshire coves, the sandy bays of East Lothian and Fife, the Tay and the big Angus cliffs, then harbours and long beaches up to Aberdeen.
10 marks · Marine Directorate (Scottish Government) · researched
North Sea and North Atlantic
Moray Firth, Caithness, Orkney and Shetland
Sandy Moray Firth beaches and small fishing harbours give way to the cliffs of Caithness, then the islands.
12 marks · Marine Directorate (Scottish Government) · researched
Atlantic and Firth of Clyde
West Highlands, Argyll, Clyde and the islands
Deep sea lochs, kelp-covered rock and island piers from the Clyde to Cape Wrath.
10 marks · Marine Directorate (Scottish Government) · researched
Firth of Clyde, North Channel and Solway Firth
Ayrshire, Galloway and the Scottish Solway
Ayrshire beaches and harbours face the Clyde, then the coast runs round the Rhins and Machars of Galloway to the Solway.
11 marks · Marine Directorate (Scottish Government) · researched
Northern Ireland has its own regulators and isn't covered.